Creative Process

What I learned about the creative process... (Olive)

As workshop leaders, Eliana and I knew that no matter the discipline of the workshop we taught, we wanted the class to feel warm and communal, like a family. In our research, we learned about art’s value in releasing difficult emotions like anxiety, grief, or anger–and we were intrigued by using art as a way to heal from trauma. We wanted to establish a space where participants felt comfortable in their vulnerability, empowered to explore creatively, and safe to express themselves without judgment. Fittingly, we chose to teach scrapbooking–one of the most research-backed disciplines for therapeutic, community-building art. One article we read specifically examined the value of scrapbooking to a community of gender-based violence survivors–through scrapbooking, subjects were not only able to reflect and express themselves, but connect with other survivors while using their emotions to produce something beautiful (Walling-Wefelmeyer, et al). These findings were directly adjacent to our goals for the workshop. Another article specifically mentioned that to use art as a healing technique, people’s creations should not be subject to judgment or harsh scrutiny, as that’s counterproductive to the therapeutic goal (Mitges). Thus, throughout the semester in our workshop, Eliana and I made sure to be entirely supportive of people’s work and have peers provide feedback only in positive or constructive ways. 

While teaching this workshop, I came to understand the value of active learning and team building–especially in the form of a good warm up activity. Starting the class off in an exciting, funny, or lighthearted way effectively sets the tone for the class and gets participants in a good mood. Our warm-ups were often scrapbooking challenges that forced students to create a quick mini spread, but they weren't always so related to our class's content. One week towards the beginning of the semester, we had students take a silly quiz that told them what kind of vegetable they were. This wasn’t related to the week’s content at all–but it got everyone to laugh and talk to each other, which I believe is extraordinarily necessary when developing a classroom’s culture. Another week, we played “two truths and a lie” to have students learn about each other and spark good discussion without it feeling like an uncomfortably forced icebreaker. In our social justice themed week, more lecture-based content was needed–so after a brief warmup, we did a reading jigsaw to conserve time and had students explain several of the historical and social uses of scrapbooking to each other. This activity was extremely effective, and by the end of class, students were able to generate tons of ideas for how and why scrapbooking might be used. Referring to UC Berkeley’s active learning strategies that we discussed in CPSA260, our workshop benefited most from the jigsaw, gallery walks, and think-pair-shares. As the workshop progressed through the spring, Eliana and I became far more comfortable with these tools in our teaching.